Chapter 101.

The five cadets remained still for a long time, only looking around themselves intermittently . Their bodies and consciousness seemingly frozen .

The mountain suddenly became flat .

And Kim Hajin disappeared .

To make things worse, another strange thing occurred . Almost as though time was being wound backwards, the scenery around them began to change rapidly .

The sun that was hanging in the middle of the sky disappeared as though it was falling down . Then, darkness was cast over them like a shadow . Such incomprehensible supernatural phenomenon evoked fear and panic, and the five cadets could only crowd together nervously .

“…Hiik . ”

Yoo Yeonha was especially in a poor state . Her eyes were wet with tears . As she was someone who couldn’t even look at a poster of a horror movie, she was unable to endure such a frightening phenomenon .

“Let’s… stay calm . ”

Kim Suho snapped out first, and Shin Jonghak then stepped up as though he was afraid of losing .

“Calm down . Since that Kim Hajon is a bit dull, he might have just gotten lost . Or maybe, he found something and sneaked away to claim it for himself . After all, we’re on Wind Mountain . ”

“It’s Kim Hajin, not Kim Hajon . ”

Wind Mountain was private property of the Jinsung group . Without their permission, no one was allowed to enter it, meaning it was likely that precious herbs were growing on it . Shin Jonghak theorized that Kim Hajin came across one by luck and sneaked away to take it .

“What? Then how do you explain this? Not only did the mountain suddenly become flat, the sun disappeared from the sky!”

Chae Nayun raised her hands and pointed around her .

They were surrounded by dense darkness and thick, overgrown weeds that seemed to be at least 80 centimeters tall .

“That’s… . ”

When Shin Jonghak was at a loss for words…

Psss—

The sound of an animal moving through grass rang out .

Yoo Yeonha shrunk back like a frightened rabbit, while Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak pointed their weapons in that direction .

Ssss— Ssss—

Something was approaching them rustling through the leaves .

Gulp .

For three minutes, they waited nervously .

What finally appeared from the thick grass was…

“I thought it was a mountain beast . Who would have thought it was a bunch of kids?”

A man who seemed to be in his mid-forties .

He was wearing dark blue pants and a baggy dress shirt . To put it to words, he looked like a typical salaryman from the 70’s and 80’s .

“What are you kids doing here?”

He spoke with somewhat of an old accent . The cadets examined him silently .

The man also scrutinized them back, especially the female cadets .

“…Eh? Why aren’t you talking?”

When the middle-aged man urged them, Shin Jonghak stepped up .

“Oy, you . Where is—”

Kim Suho quickly stopped Shin Jonghak’s ill-mannered talking .

“Um, sir, where are we?”

“…Huh?”

The man stared at Kim Suho with an incredulous look, then suddenly smirked .

“What do you mean? We’re in Gwangmyeong . This is a danger zone . We don’t know when magic power will explode again . ”

“…Magic power explosion?”

Kim Suho murmured quietly .

Magic power explosion was a word he was familiar with .

[A phenomenon where unstable mana explodes . For three years after Outcall, the world’s unstable mana frequently exploded . ]

That was what he recalled reading from the textbook .

“That’s right . You’ll die if you stay here, so follow me . ”

“… . ”

The man was talking about a phenomenon that was extinct in the modern world like it was still happening .

Kim Suho fell into thought .

Magic power explosion .

A mountain that turned into flat ground .

The man’s old-fashioned clothes…

“Let’s follow him for now . ”

To understand the current situation, it was necessary to follow this man . All five cadets seemed to be thinking this as they nodded somewhat reluctantly .

Shin Jonghak then said to the man .

“Lead the way . ”

“…Eh?”

Kim Suho quickly pushed Shin Jonghak to the side and corrected him .

“Ahaha, this is our first time here, so we’ll have to ask you to guide us . ”

“What, Kim Suho, you’re gonna provoke me even in this situation?”

“Shut up… . ”

“Just stay quiet and follow along . ”

Just like that, they followed the middle-aged man .

Walking through tall grass and passing by occasional strange howls, they eventually reached what seemed like a city .

“This is… . ”

At that moment, the cadets halted .

They stared in front of them blankly .

Collapsed buildings and barricades made up of scrap cars and iron bars… smoke and flames were rising from the city .

“Yo, Myungjong, have you been doing a good job?”

“Of course, Ajusshi . But um… who are they?”

“Haha . ”

The middle-aged man greeted a young man guarding the entrance . The young man glanced at the cadets and made a blooming smile .

The middle-aged man turned back to the cadets and spoke .

“What’s up? Come in . ”

“…Um, first, where is this?”

Hearing Kim Suho’s serious tone, the middle-aged man grinned .

“It’s the safest place around, Gwangmyeong City Hall . ”

Gwangmyeong City Hall .

They had driven by it earlier in the day in a limousine . However, the Gwangmyeong City Hall they saw wasn’t a dilapidated place like this .

It was then that Kim Suho began to understand the situation .

The man’s clothes .

Magic power explosion .

“Can you tell me today’s date?”

“Date?”

Kim Suho asked in a stiff voice . The man rubbed his chin at the sudden question, then shook his head side to side .

“Don’t know . Who has the time to count nowadays? I guess it’s about 72 now . ”

Hearing this, the cadets fell in a daze once again .

Ding— Their heads seemed to be ringing .

“72 as in… 1972?”

“Well it sure isn’t 1872 . ”

This time, the young man guarding the entrance walked up .

Then, several men appeared from on top of the barricades . Their eyes flickered coldly as they looked down at the cadets .

“Come in . It’s dangerous to stay outside at this time . ”

The young man grabbed Chae Nayun’s wrist as he said so .

“Hey, let her go . ”

Kim Suho quickly pushed him away and pulled out the branch he brought just in case .

“…A branch?”

“Hey kiddo, put that down . We’re not bad people . ”

“… . ”

Kim Suho tried to unleash his magic power to intimidate them .

Right, he tried .

Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring out his magic power .

“Hey, Kim Suho, I can’t use my magic power!”

Chae Nayun seemed to be experiencing the same thing as her flustered voice rang out . Meanwhile, the men standing on top of the barricades jumped down and surrounded them .

Even at a glance, there were at least twenty of them .

To make things worse, they imbued magic power into the iron bars they brought .

“These pieces of trash dare to… . ”

When the enraged Shin Jonghak was about to curse at them… a neon light flashed from the distance .

Everyone’s attention fell on the light . There… they saw a man wearing a helmet and riding on a high-tech bike .

“A-Ah! That son of a bitch is back! Run back inside guys!”

The middle-aged man quickly urged his friends .

“Hurry! He’s a man-eating monster! Stop dilly-dallying! Alert Asura-nim… aak!”

Then suddenly, a white flashed erupted and something penetrated the man’s shoulder in the blink of an eye .

The attack didn’t end there .

Several streaks of light shot forward, lighting up the darkness .

Yoo Yeonha could easily identify the streaks of light flying past them .

“Bullets…?”

“Uuk—”

The continued barrage of bullets dissolved the encirclement, and Kim Suho and others quickly ran back .

Once they reached a certain distance away from the city, they stopped and turned to the man sitting on a bike .

In this moment where it was hard to distinguish friend or foe… the mysterious man raised his hands and slowly took off his helmet .

Soon, his face was revealed .

“Huh?”

The man’s long hair was tied up neatly and he had a scruffy beard that covered his chin .

Although his facial hair made him look like someone from a Western movie, they were all able to identify his face .

Kim Suho murmured in a daze .

“…Kim Hajin?”

**

I was severely mistaken . I thought I would be sent back to the past with them just because we were walking in the same place at the same time . I was being too naive .

About forty days ago, or what should have been a few minutes ago to Kim Suho and the others, I was dragged into the past while I was climbing Wind Mountain with my guard down . Since the other five were transported to the same time period in the original story, it was a much more natural story progression when I thought about it .

At first, I panicked . However, I soon realized that the situation wasn’t as bad as I thought . Just like I expected, the Djinn trying to rule over this place was stronger than in the original story . Being sent back before the others gave me more time to make preparations .

I got busy from the first day .

First, I looked for a place to stay .

Gwangmyeong City Hall was ruled by a Djinn, so I had to pick a place that was far away from them but still gave me the ability to observe them .

Next, I observed the movements of the Djinn ruling this place and attacked his subordinates to hinder their growth .

Just like that, I ate alone, attacked alone, ran away alone for 40 days… .

Today, I finally reunited with the rest .

“Then this is really… . ”

On our way to my base, Kim Suho who was quietly listening to my story stopped and faced me .

“That’s right, we’re in Gwangmyeong of 1972 . Outcall happened only 15 months ago, so this place is still hell . ”

The party went stiff like a rock . Even Shin Jonghak had a grave look on his face .

“Then how long have you been here?”

Yoo Yeonha asked .

“I don’t know… . ”

Although my hair and beard grew a lot for having stayed for only 40 days, that was only because of this place’s high mana concentration . Plus, Energy Conversion seemed to also make my facial hair grow faster .

“Maybe one year?”

I said that as a joke . However, a heavy silence filled the air . The movement of the moonlight touched me . In an otherwise pitch-black darkness, I was lit up by the sole source of light .

The others stared at me with faces I couldn’t understand .

I was satisfied with this . I laughed and corrected myself .

“I’m just kidding . I’ve only been here for about five weeks . ”

“… . ”

However, they were still silent .

“R-Really . Plus, it wasn’t a bad experience . ”

In fact, it was a ‘necessary’ experience . For two months, I fought people, not monsters .

The atmosphere became awkward, but Shin Jonghak asked without caring much for it .

“So did you find out what caused this phenomenon?”

“Yeah, more or less . ”

“Really?”

Yoo Yeonha’s eyes widened .

“I’ll explain it later . For now, let’s get to the base . ”

**

I arrived at my base with the others . The base I chose was an abandoned building buried in a nearby forest . As there was only one entrance into it, it served as a good temporary shelter .

“Not even my horse would be willing to live here . ”

“…Hajin, you spent a year here? With nothing around?”

Shin Jonghak shook his head in disapproval and Kim Suho asked with a look of pity .

“It hasn’t been a year . Really, believe me!”

I emphasized once again . If I knew they would pity me like this, I never would have made that joke .

“But there really is… nothing . ”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you lived here for so long . You have my respect . ”

Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun grimaced . I couldn’t blame them . This was probably their first time seeing such a dilapidated home, where only rocks and cockroaches were lying around .

But that was only for now .

“Just wait . There’s going to be a lot more to see . ”

I took out the duffel bag I kept on my motorbike . I rummaged through the bag and took out two one-touch magic tents . By putting in a little bit of Stigma’s magic power in them… tada!

They’d instantly puff up and rise .

“Whoa! What’s this?”

Now, there were two proper homes .

Chae Nayun’s eyes shone as she approached the tents .

“Oh, before I explain what’s going on, aren’t you guys hungry?”

Everyone other than Shin Jonghak looked at me with sparkling eyes .

I took out a grill, an icebox, and several cooking equipment from my duffel bag .

“Oh, but we’ll need to butcher it . ”

I already ate most of the food I brought, other than some spam and ten bags of ramen I left as an emergency supply .

As a result, we had to hunt wild animals and butcher them to get their meat .

“Butcher?”

“Yeah . ”

I opened the icebox . There was a torso of a pig wrapped in two halves .

I caught this one two days ago . I cut off its head and limbs and only left behind its body split into two .

For the record, I vomited twice during this entire process .

“We have to butcher this… . ”

I looked at Kim Suho . He grinned and raised his hand .

“I’ll do it . I’m good at stuff like this . ”

“Yi Yeonghan, you help Kim Suho too . ”

“Okay~”

“Butchering… it suits you . Kim Suho the Butcher, that can be your title . ”

Shin Jonghak taunted Kim Suho from the side . I handed him four empty water buckets .

“And you, go get water . There’s a stream to the right of this place . ”

“…What?”

Shin Jonghak made a terrifying frown . I have never seen such an angry expression . He seemed to be saying something like, ‘how dare you order me around!?’

However, I already knew the magical words to control him .

“Hey, Chae Nayun, go with him . ”

“Hm? Me~?”

Chae Nayun, who was looking around inside the tent, scurried out .

“…Hm . ”

Shin Jonghak took the canteens silently . Then, he coughed a few times and gave two of the buckets to Chae Nayun .

“Let’s go . ”

“Are we going to go get water?”

“Yeah . ”

“Great, I was getting thirsty . ”

Chae Nayun and Shin Jonghak walked together to the stream .

“Hmph, why is it Chae Nayun?”

Yoo Yeonha grumbled as she watched them leave . When I glanced at her, she turned away sulking .

I murmured to myself .

“Let’s make some ramen when they come back with water . ”

“…Ramen?”

Yoo Yeonha’s grumpy face instantly disappeared . I took out a few bags of ramen from the duffel bag and spoke .

“Yeah . Why, you don’t like them? You’re not going to pretend to be a chaebol in this situation, right?”

Yoo Yeonha smacked her lips and shook her head .

“No, ssp . I guess there’s, ssp, no choice . It’s better, ssp, than starving to death, ssp . ”

…She must have been hungry as she loudly swallowed her saliva .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .